Learning Plan
“Learning Plans” define schools’ educational character and focus. The West-Romig campus’ Learning Plan reflects the concept of schools as a center of community in 21st century education. Education consultant, Dr. George Copa, led a diverse 50+-member Planning Team of school and community representatives to form this Learning Plan. It serves to link the Pre-Planning Vision Report with the Master Plan.
Download a printable copy in PDF format of the Learning Plan
Learn more about Dr. Copa
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Learning Plan Development
 The Learning Plan for West High School and Romig Middle School has expectations that are somewhat unique compared to a traditional Learning Plan. Under normal circumstances, the Learning Plan would act as a guide for the facility renewal as developed in a facility master plan. The goal for the West Romig Learning Plan is to be more comprehensive. The master plan that is being developed for West Romig certainly includes the planning of physical elements necessary to create a 21st century learning environment. However, in this case the master plan is intended to address “soft concept” issues as well. The primary goal of the master plan is to create a framework for the development of the West Romig campus as a center of community in a two-way modality; facilities and resources being shared with the community for recreational, cultural and life-long learning opportunities as well as employing the resources of the community to contribute in the education of the students of West Romig in an integrated fashion. In addition to the “center of community” concept, the District wishes to explore the incorporation of contemporary educational delivery concepts into the plan.
The Pre-Planning Vision Report lays out potential scenarios for robust community/education interactions. One of the Learning Plan’s goals needs to address the linkage between the concept of these community/school interactions and the delivery of curriculum at West and Romig.
In addition to exploring 21st century learning concepts, there appear to be three overarching opportunities to keep in mind throughout the development of the Learning Plan.
- Identity. The West Romig campus presents significant cultural, socio-economic and academic diversity. Additionally the unique (for ASD) co-location of a middle school and high school adds age diversity to this site as well. One of the consequences of such diversity is the presence of a multiplicity of programs designed to support the variety of needs. School through the Arts, International Baccalaureate, Spanish Immersion, Russian Immersion, Highly Gifted, and similar programs are all offered at West Romig. How can the opportunities presented by the diversity of the West Romig campus be captured and focused?
- Partnership integration. Community and business partners have expressed an interest in tangible collaboration in delivering curriculum to students. What types of partners would be most beneficial to the education of students at West Romig? What process would need to be developed to integrate those opportunities into the delivery of curriculum? What are the expectations of all stakeholders in this model? How can West and Romig be effective partners?
- Extended Learning Opportunities. The vision for the West Romig campus is one that includes the use of the facilities beyond the normal school day. How can remedial and enrichment opportunities be developed? What types of programs would be most effect? What assets need to be brought together to effectively provide these programs? What obstacles need to be cleared?
The Learning Plan must deliver the philosophical framework that connects the community, the educators and the students in a relevant manner. In order for all of the stakeholders to more easily comprehend the philosophical underpinnings, the Learning Plan needs to include examples of the kinds of concepts and programs that could be realized. Many of the ideas would most likely be able to be implemented irrespective of any facility renewals.
There appear to be natural points within the process to address some of these key points.
- Learning Context. The focus of this session should actually deal more with the overall challenges and opportunities as it relates to the philosophical integration of the community resources, 21st century educational models and curriculum. The potential impact on facility renewals will be important but not the driving force.
- Learning Signature. It would seem that identity issue will be thoroughly addressed in this session. How the “school as center of community” concept is integrated into the signature of the school will be an important outcome.
- Learning Process. This session description seems appropriate. We would encourage the discussion to also include extended learning opportunities as a normal part of the learning process. Depending on the outcome, some examples of school districts employing similar strategies would provide great background support.
- Learning Organization. In addition to the goals noted in the session description, the process for organizing the educational opportunities that exist between Romig Middle School and West High School will be important. For example, in order to facilitate class sharing, how can the disparate schedules be reconciled?
- Learning Partnerships. This session will need to be heavily based on the Pre-Planning Vision Report. Many components of the unique partnership approach described in the Vision Report will need to be explored. The primary focus should address which areas of learning process can be best supported by partnerships and how those partners can be effectively integrated into the instructional delivery process. The expectations for this section will include examples of particular partner types and how they might be integrated into the normal school day or in an extended learning opportunity.
- Learning Environment. The incorporation of technology into the learning process will be a highly sought outcome. One unique scenario that will need to be explored will be any transitional changes that would allow a new concept developed during the course of the Learning Plan process to be incorporated prior to a complete building renewal. For example, students and faculty can have access to Program X, if the bandwidth to the schools is doubled. Also there are high expectations of after-hours educational enhancement via mentoring, adult educational opportunities, and other community school interactions.
The process will certainly uncover a number of issues and opportunities to the creation of West Romig as an educational, cultural and recreational center of community. The School Board has been very clear that our efforts should have an educational foundation. The ultimate goal of the Learning Plan should be to serve as the connective tissue between the various stakeholders involved in the education of the students of West Romig. The Board is willing to explore the benefits of an enhanced model for delivering education at the high school and middle school level. Everyone involved will need to be challenged along the way to look to the future.
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